The police have seized incriminating documents from the residence of a Sri Lankan refugee-turned-loan shark after he was arrested for collecting exorbitant interest from a woman refugee and for taking away documents from her at KK Nagar in Trichy.

D Santhakumar, a 54-year-old Sri Lankan Tamil residing in Sundar Nagar in Trichy was arrested on Tuesday, based on a complaint from Jayalakshmi alias Manorani, who is also a Sri Lankan Tamil now settled in Sundar Nagar.

In a subsequent raid at his house after the arrest, the police confiscated the woman’s identity card, land documents and a blank paper on which he obtained signatures from her and her relative.

According to police, she borrowed Rs 16.5 lakh from Santhakumar in 2002 to assist her brother in London to solve his financial crisis. Since then, she had reportedly been paying the interest and principal amount to him till February 2012. The total repayment ran into Rs 59 lakh so far. After that, she failed to pay the interest till now.

With the aim of usurping her land, Santhakumar went to her house and took some documents of her land located in Sri Lanka last June. Despite her opposing the move, he intimidated her with dire consequences. The police also said he had obtained signatures from her and a relative on blank paper. Moreover, he took away her refugee identity card too.

Meanwhile, Santhakumar continuously urged her to repay the principal amount. After undergoing a month-long mental stress, Jayalakshmi lodged a complaint with the city police commissioner Shailesh Kumar Yadav on Tuesday against Santhakumar. Hence, the commissioner directed the KK Nagar police to take severe action against the accused in case the complaint was found to be genuine. Police inspector Suresh and sub-inspector Dhayalan conducted enquiries with both parties and found the complaint to be true.

Then KK Nagar police registered a case against Santhakumar under section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Charging and Exorbitant Interest Act, 2003, and IPC section 506 (I) (criminal intimidation). Later, he was arrested and remanded in judicial custody in the central prison, Trichy. (TNN)